InspectAPedia tolerates no conflicts of interest. We have no relationship with advertisers, products, or services discussed at this website.

Suggestions for covering or remediating asbestos-suspect floor adhesive or mastic. This article points out that while most mastics and adhesives are not friable thus not easily airborne, there may be reasons to cover up such materials to reduce possible future indoor airborne asbestos exposure.

This article series answers questions about floor tile, sheet flooring, or roofing cutback adhesives or mastics that may contain asbestos. Does or did roofing mastic products & sealants contain asbestos? What are the hazards of demolishing or working on floors or roofs where asphalt-based asbestos-containing mastics, cutback adhesives, or sealants were used? Page top photo of black mastic floor tile adhesive provided courtesy of reader G.M.

Asbestos-Suspect Floor Tile Mastic Remediation - Cover-Up

Reader Question: has this asbestos-containing flooring adhesive mastic been properly covered and is it safe?

Hi, I came across your site while looking into asbestos and hoped you could answer a question.

[Click to enlarge any image]

We took possession of a property which had some asbestos removal and cleaning done to it. We were told that there was bitumen adhesive in the bathroom but that it had been covered to make it safe.

Can you tell from the picture I have included if a covering has been put on [effectively]?
Thanks R.F. - United Kingdom, 10 September 2013

Reply:

Normally I'm reluctant to make a firm promise or diagnostic about building conditions from a simple email or a photo or two. We know that an onsite expert will virtually always see important clues or even more dangerous conditions than those that might be reported by a normal homeowner or occupant. That apologia made, if you click-to-enlarge the photo at above left - that you provided in nice detail, one can see that a tan floor tile mastic remains in place and even looks a bit fragile in some areas (photo right side).

I also see what looks like pinkish paper-like material that may have been red rosin paper or more likely, the backer of sheet or tile flooring that was removed from the area shown.

In my OPINION we are looking at a sloppy, amateur floor covering removal that left old materials in place.

As you can read beginning at MASTIC, CUTBACK ADHESIVE, FLASHING CEMENT ASBESTOS, some floor adhesives contain asbestos, others don't. If your floor was installed prior to 1985, it would be prudent to treat the flooring as well as its adhesive as "PACM" or presumed-asbestos-containing material. Where costs to remove, clean, or cover-over such a floor are not a major expense I'm not sure that testing is warranted.

The EPA and other expert sources explain that the presence of asbestos in buildings does not necessarily warrant its removal, stating:

... not all asbestos-containing products are dangerous. A health risk exists only when asbestos fibers are released from a product [into the air where they are inhaled for example]. Products that are friable (easily crumbled or made into dust that is easily airborne) are more dangerous than products in which binders immobilize the asbestos fibers.

EPA also indicates that not everyone exposed to asbestos will develop an asbestos-related illness or disease. Most people exposed to small amounts of asbestos do not develop asbestos-related health problems. Cigarette smokers are at much higher risk of asbestos-related disease. [1][2][3][4][5]

It is usually reasonable to cover over an asbestos-suspect floor, thereby significantly reducing the risk of sending asbestos fragments or particles of flooring or floor adhesive into the air at detectable levels. And by leaving the flooring material in place you actually expose the building to less asbestos hazard risk than by removing it (in most cases).

For a sloppy job such as the floor in your photo, I would consider the following:

Address the question of amateur asbestos removal - and thus possible building contamination that could require further cleaning using proper methods

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

No FAQs have been posted for this page. Try the search box below or CONTACT US by email if you cannot find the answer you need at InspectApedia.

...

Ask a Question or Search InspectApedia

Use the "Click to Show or Hide FAQs" link just above to see recently-posted questions, comments, replies, try the search box just below, or if you prefer, post a question or comment in the Comments box below and we will respond promptly.

[5] "Toxics Information Series - Asbestos", U.S. EPA, April 1980, [copy on file as /hazmat/Asbestos_Toxics_EPA_1980.pdf]

[6] EVER WEAR TILE CO is currently (2009) in the Terrazzo, Tile, Marble, and Mosaic Work industry in Fallon, NV. 775) 423-6221. [We do not know the company history nor whether there is an association with EverWear vinyl asbestos floor tiles discussed in this article.]

[11] Thanks to Armstrong Corporation (800-356-9301) for providing information about the dates of manufacture of peel-and-stick floor tiles, email July 2010

[12] "Asbestos in your home or at work," Forsyth County Environmental Affairs Department, Winston-Salem NC
12/08

[13] "Asbestos Floor Tile Removal", the University of Minnesota's advice on removing VAT (vinyl asbestos or asphalt asbestos floor tile) can be read in detail at www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/asbestos/floortile/index.html

[18] Asbestos products and their history and use in various building materials such as asphalt and vinyl flooring includes discussion which draws on Asbestos, Its Industrial Applications, D.V. Rosato, engineering consultant, Newton, MA, Reinhold Publishing, 1959 Library of Congress Catalog Card No.: 59-12535 (out of print).

[21] Rotterdam Convention PIC, see http://www.pic.int/home.php?type=s&id=77, and for a PDF on the composition of vinyl-asbestos flooring, see http://www.pic.int/en/DGDs/Alternatives/USA/American%20alternatives%20part%203.pdf
where PIC refers toPrior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade on 10 September 1998.

Major Provisions of the Rotterdam Convention on Prior Informed Consent Procedure PIC

The Convention covers pesticides and industrial chemicals that have been banned or severely restricted for health or environmental reasons by Parties and which have been notified by Parties for inclusion in the PIC procedure. One notification from each of two specified regions triggers consideration of addition of a chemical to Annex III of the Convention, Severely hazardous pesticide formulations that present a hazard under conditions of use in developing countries or countries with economies in transition may also be nominated for inclusion in Annex III.

There are 40 chemicals listed in Annex III of the Convention and subject to the PIC procedure, including 25 pesticides, 4 severely hazardous pesticide formulations and 11 industrial chemicals. Many more chemicals are expected to be added in the future. The Conference of the Parties decides on the inclusion of new chemicals.
Once a chemical is included in Annex III, a "decision guidance document" (DGD) containing information concerning the chemical and the regulatory decisions to ban or severely restrict the chemical for health or environmental reasons, is circulated to all Parties.

Parties have nine months to prepare a response concerning the future import of the chemical. The response can consist of either a final decision (to allow import of the chemical, not to allow import, or to allow import subject to specified conditions) or an interim response. Decisions by an importing country must be trade neutral (i.e., apply equally to domestic production for domestic use as well as to imports from any source).

The import decisions are circulated and exporting country Parties are obligated under the Convention to take appropriate measure to ensure that exporters within its jurisdiction comply with the decisions.

[26] "History of asbestos discovery and use and asbestos-related disease in context with the occurrence of asbestos within ophiolite complexes", Malcolm Ross, Robert P. Nolan, Geological Society of America, Special Paper, 2003.
Abstract: Two ancient asbestos mines, one near Karystos, Greece and the other southeast of Mount Troodos, Cyprus, were located in what we now know to be ophiolite terrane. Evidence suggests that asbestos was discovered and utilized in Cyprus,perhaps as long as 5000 years ago, for manufacture of cremation cloths, lamp wicks, hats, and shoes. Some of the adverse health effects became known only in the early twentieth century, but it was not until the 1960's that the asbestos-related diseases - asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma - were fully understood.
Approximately 855 of the world's asbestos was produced from ophiolite complexes, most of which as the chrysotile variety; termolite, actinolite, and anthophyllite asbestos accounting for only a few percent of the total. Asbestos minerals crystallize within tectonized ophiolites -along shear, fault, and dilation zones, and at contacts with intruded dikes and sills. Important chrysotile asbestos mines are found in the ophiolites of eastern Canada, the Russian Urals, California, northwest Italy, northern Greece, and Cyprus. A high incidence of mesothelioma, a cancer of the lugn lining, is reported among residents of villages located within or near ophiolite complexes in Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, Corsica, and New Caledonia. These villages were exposed to tremolite asbestos while processing stucco and whitewash for application to homes. Asbestos contamination in various geographic localities has generated concern about health risks and has prompted costly remediatl actions, especially in the United Kingdom and the United States. A scientific basis for public policy is offered to address the utilization of asbestos-bearing rocks.

[27] 57 F.Supp. 339 (1965), TILE COUNCIL OF AMERICA, INC., Plaintiff, v. CERAMIC TILERS SUPPLY, INC., Defendant. No. 62-267. United States District Court S. D. California, Central Division. August 13, 1965. Quoting "the 392 patent ... It also discloses composition containing the ingredients above mentioned which include sand as well as one which includes asbestos but not sand together with the other ingredients heretofore mentioned. The 382 patent also discloses a method of manufacturing such compositions."

[28] "The transformation sequence of cement–asbestos slates up to 1200 °C and safe recycling of the reaction product in stoneware tile mixtures
A.F. Gualtieri, C. Cavenati, I. Zanatto, M. Meloni, G. Elmi, M. Lassinantti Gualtier, Journal of Hazardous Materials Volume 152, Issue 2, 1 April 2008, Pages 563–570
" Quoting: " The material was powdered and studied to see if it is suitable to be recycled in stoneware tile
mixtures similarly to the protocol used in Gualtieri and Tartaglia [20] "
" The product of transformation of cement–asbestos (CATP) has a phase composition similar to that of a natural or a low temperature clinker with the exception of having a larger content of aluminium, iron and magnesium. This product can be safely recycled for the production of stoneware tile mixtures. The addition of 3–5 mass% of CATP does not bear significant variations to the standard parameters of white porcelain tile mixtures. "

[29] "A glass-bonded ceramic material from chrysotile (white asbestos)", K. J. D. Mackenzie and R. H.Meinhold, JOURNAL OF MATERIALS SCIENCE
Volume 29, Number 10, 2775-2783, DOI: 10.1007/BF00356832, Abstract:
A process has been developed for bonding chrysotile asbestos into a robust, dimensionally-stable lightweight ceramic material by fusing it with sodium silicate and/or ground waste glass. The chrysotile can retain its desirable properties of fibrous morphology and porosity, but the fibre bundles are stabilized by fusion into a glassy matrix, reducing the respirable fibre concentration. The glass-bonded materials have good resistance to mechanical abrasion, and any resulting dust is found by SEM to be particularly free of fibres. The thermal treatment also converts the chrysotile into crystalline forsterite, which should destroy its cell toxicity. Other methods of glass-bonding chrysotile compacts (hot pressing and impregnating with glaze) were also investigated, and the properties of the resulting materials are reported.Reference Type: Journal Article
Author: Mackenzie, K. J. D.
Author: Meinhold, R. H.
Primary Title: A glass-bonded ceramic material from chrysotile (white asbestos)
Journal Name: Journal of Materials Science
Cover Date: 1994-01-01
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Issn: 0022-2461
Subject: Chemistry and Materials Science
Start Page: 2775
End Page: 2783
Volume: 29
Issue: 10
Url: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00356832
Doi: 10.1007/BF00356832

[35] Ceramic Tile Institute of America, CTIOA, Tel: 310-574-7800, website: www.ctioa.org/ Email: ctioa@earthlink.net Quote:The mission of CTIOA: To promote appropriate and expanded use of ceramic tile and natural stone through education.
The Ceramic Tile Institute of America Inc. provides manufacturer’s information only. The Ceramic Tile Institute of America Inc. does not test the products listed nor do we validate manufacturer’s claims. The Ceramic Tile Institute of America inc. is not responsible for the performance of the products shown on this site.

[36] "Potential Asbestos Hazard in Art Clay", Mark K. McQuillan, [letter] Connecticut Department of Public Health, 26 June 2007, CT DOH, Phone: (860) 509-7740 Fax: (860) 509-7785
Telephone Device for the Deaf (860) 509-7191
410 Capitol Avenue - MS # 11EOH
P.O. Box 340308 Hartford, CT 06134
web search 3/8/12 original source: ct.gov/dph/lib/dph/environmental_health/asbestos/pdf/ArtClayLetter.pdf
[copy on file as: /hazmat/ArtClayLetter.pdf ] Excerpt:Talc is added to certain clays as a “flux” to lower the temperature at which the clay needs to be heated. The DPH has become aware that the talc from at least one mine in the Northeast may be contaminated with a type of asbestos called anthophyllite. Although there has been debate if the asbestos found in talc actually falls under the regulatory definition of asbestos, there is enough uncertainty to warrant caution when using clays with added talc. A recent court case in New Jersey found talc mined by the R.T. Vanderbilt Company of New York was responsible for an asbestos-related cancer ( mesothelioma) in a pottery shop owner. The pottery shop owner had purchased talc (Nytal 100) in large bags and mixed it in clays he used and sold.

[37] CPSC and Milton Bradley Co. Recall "Fibro-Clay", US Consumer Product Safety Commission, Release #83-012, March 1983. web seach 3/8/12 original source cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml83/83012.html [copy on file as /hazamat/FIBRO-CLAY_ Recall.pdf ]
Excerpt:
Milton Bradley made Fibro-Clay from 1967 until 1975, when it ceased manufacture of the product. The firm stated that no asbestos has been used in the formula since 1972, and that the quantity sold by its Educational Division was relatively small.

[42] Asbestos Testing Laboratory Survey, Daniel Friedman (editor), InsapectAPedia.com, March 2012. Using the U.S. NIST directory of accredited laboratories certified for asbestos fiber analysis, [http://ts.nist.gov/standards/scopes/plmtm.htm] we polled at least one laboratory in each U.S. state, Puerto Rico, two Canadian Provinces, and laboratories in Japan and Korea, asking each if their laboratory had ever received ceramic tiles for asbestos testing and whether or not their lab had ever detected asbestos in ceramic tiles used on walls, floors, or other building services. Results will be included in this article.

[43] "Where can you find asbestos? Floor tiles, textiles, composites", Health and Executive Safety, web search 3/8/12 original source: http://www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/essentials/floortiles.htm Quoting:
HSE is the national independent watchdog for work-related health, safety and illness.
We are an independent regulator and act in the public interest to reduce work-related death and serious injury across Great Britain’s workplaces.

[52] Arts, Crafts, & Theater Safety (ACTS), 181 Thompson Street, #23
New York, NY 10012-2586
Telephone: (212) 777-0062
E-Mail: ACTSNYC@cs.com, web search 5/9/12, website: http://www.artscraftstheatersafety.org/ - Quoting:ACTS is a not-for-profit corporation that provides health, safety, industrial hygiene, technical services, and safety publications to the arts, crafts, museums, and theater communities. A part of the fees from our consulting services goes to support our free and low-cost services for artists. We gratefully accept donations, but do not solicit them from the artists who call here for help and advice. We recognize that artists and performers are among the least affluent groups in society.
ACTS also will not accept money or take advertising in our publications from manufacturers of artists materials or businesses whose interests could conflict with ours. We want artists to know that we have no financial incentive to make our product and safety recommendations.

[53] The Artist's Complete Health and Safety Guide, Monona Rossol, Allworth Press, 2001, ISBN-10: 1581152043
ISBN-13: 978-1581152043 - Quoting:Dozens of at-a-glance tables and charts present vital information about art materials, ingredients, technical hazards, proper protective equipment, and safe work practices simply and accurately. This brand-new third edition is now completely revised and expanded to detail lifesaving new safety and ventilation equipment, present urgent new discoveries on toxins and pollutants found in arts and crafts materials, and explain the controversies surrounding new government regulations. A virtual lifesaver for all art and craft workers.

The Home Reference Book - the Encyclopedia of Homes, Carson Dunlop & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, 25th Ed., 2012, is a bound volume of more than 450 illustrated pages that assist home inspectors and home owners in the inspection and detection of problems on buildings. The text is intended as a reference guide to help building owners operate and maintain their home effectively. Field inspection worksheets are included at the back of the volume. Special Offer: For a 10% discount on any number of copies of the Home Reference Book purchased as a single order. Enter INSPECTAHRB in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space. InspectAPedia.com editor Daniel Friedman is a contributing author.

Or choose the The Home Reference eBook for PCs, Macs, Kindle, iPad, iPhone, or Android Smart Phones. Special Offer: For a 5% discount on any number of copies of the Home Reference eBook purchased as a single order. Enter INSPECTAEHRB in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space.